Monthly Mixology: Warm Cocktails for Fall and Winter

By Junior Merino, The Liquid Chef

Dropping Temperatures Outside = Warming Cocktails for our Insides

With the temperatures starting to drop, warm cocktails are on the rise and with that comes all the best of warm alcoholic beverages. They can pair amazingly with some of our favorite comfort foods and warm cocktails can add variety to a menu as guests seek to warm up with familiar and fun ingredients.

I enjoy creating these cocktails with original spins on fan favorites. For example, spiced or mulled wine- served warm, is like the “mac & cheese” of warm cocktails. There is a “comfort food” element to this cocktail that draws people in. Served out of a coffee or tea cup, people are constantly seen with this warming both hands while the steam rises with its spiced aromas. I like to add flor de jamaica or hibiscus flowers to give it a touch of the exotic while enhancing the red wine flavors.

While making a hot chocolate, I use traditional Mexican chocolate made by hand with almonds or cinnamon. I then add some coconut milk and mezcal to the mix, making a childhood favorite into a new boozy adult hot beverage. If we jump over to Galicia, Spain, people are making queimadas or burnt cocktails using sugar and orujo, which is similar to grappa. I like to kick it up a notch by adding orange peel, cloves and allspice.

Let’s not forget some classics - hot toddies, hot buttered rum, coffee and tea cocktails!!! When making hot buttered rum, I first make a caramel with butter, sugar, and a touch of cream and then add the rum. I also use hot apple cider mixed with whiskey, agave, and lemon to make hot toddies. I created a cocktail with a tea base that has cranberry shrub and lemon juice. My favorite coffee cocktail I created has tequila anejo and kahlua topped with a mascarpone & cantaloup foam and a burnt cinnamon stick garnish.